Parents of two children, a 3yearold boy and a newborn girl, wealthy American couple Simone, 35, and Malcolm Collins, 36, want five more. But the desire is not because they like or dislike children.
With birth rates falling in several countries, they want each of their descendants to have eight children over the next 11 generations so that the Collins bloodline would outnumber the human population.
The wealthy couple from Dallas are not alone in this mission. The socalled “pronatalist movement” has attracted the attention of a secretive group of billionaires, including South African Elon Musk, who has ten children. It has also spurred the emergence of bioengineering startups to allow parents to select the best possible genetics for the embryo. The idea is that the family line is becoming more and more superior.
An embryo with more “green pillars”
One of the bestknown technology companies in this field is Genomic Prediction from the United States. Through her, the Collinses selected the embryo for in vitro fertilization of their third child. Simone and Malcolm decided on a girl after taking the LifeView test, which provides risk scores for 11 possible polygenic disorders, including schizophrenia and five types of cancer.
Armed with a table where each row represents an embryo and each column represents a possible genetic risk factor, the Collinses decided to prioritize whichever performed best in the “traits besides intellectual capacity” category. It assessed stress, the likelihood of developing depression, mood swings, anxiety, and ADHD (attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder).
Thus, the embryo from row number 3 was selected as it had more green columns.
Despite this, the test is no guarantee that the future Collins daughter will no longer have a mental health problem, as it only takes into account genetics without considering the social world in which the child will have contact in the future, which has an impact on the impact can affect character and behavior.
Malcolm and Simone Collins and their first two children
Image: Disclosure
The couple deny that this is any kind of choice of who will be born or not.
“I don’t eliminate people. I mean, I eliminate them from my own genetic pool,” Simone told Business Insider in an interview. Malcolm, on the other hand, believes that the Collinses “can define the future of our species” if they successfully implement the plan outlined for the next 11 generations.
Combination of privileges: money, social class, and now DNA
Stephen Hsu, cofounder of Genomic Prediction, acknowledges that the choice of the best embryo by wealthy families, made possible by technology, will continue to exacerbate inequality in the future, as babies are not only born into financially successful families who have better genetic makeup and should be healthier than the poorest who cannot afford it.
For example, in Genomic Prediction, the polygenic test costs US$1,000 (more than R$5.3,000) and US$400 (R$2.1,000) for each analyzed embryo, according to Bloomberg news agency. That is, the more analyzes, the higher the costs.
In a way, it is the most brutal form of inequality. This guy will be able to have 20 kids, and actually 20 very, very healthy ones, as good as modern technology can make them; while others cannot make use of it. Stephen Hsu to Business Insider.
Pronatalistic movement attracts Musk
The pronatalist movement has gained a following around the world, particularly among tech tycoons. They believe that if the birthrate in developed countries falls every year, economies will collapse and that their wealth could collapse.
Another rationale is that the world not only needs more people, but also people who can brave climate change and emerging diseases to remain economically viable for their time.
The theory would be corroborated by Elon Musk, father of 10 officially known children with three different wives.
Discretion about his private life, it’s not known if Musk used embryo genetic selection technology on any of his children, but a source who worked directly with the billionaire told website Business Insider that there was an interest , having many children and genetically more “Advanced” has been what the entrepreneur has been calling since 2005.
“He takes very seriously the idea that your wealth is directly related to your IQ,” he said. According to this source, Musk would have asked other wealthy men to have as many children as possible.
A future for the stupid?
Publicly, Musk fears that the plot of the cult film “Idiocracy” from 2006 will come true.
The comedy suggests that after the unrestricted reproduction of loweducated families and the reluctance of “smart” people not to have many children so as not to hinder their careers, the world is dominated by stupid people.
It’s set in 2505, when the Presidentelect is a wrestling star and the populace is starving because the crops are now being irrigated with Gatorade.
“When I ask my friends why they don’t have children (very few have), it looks just like it does in the movies. Might be a documentary since it’s coming true,” Musk posted on Twitter on June 18, 2022, accompanied by a comedy scene.
Watch the opening scene of Idiocracy.
When I ask my friends why they don’t have children yet (very few) it sounds just like in the movie.https://t.co/528L1mhHi1
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2022
“World population is accelerating toward collapse, but few seem to notice or care,” Musk said in another post five years earlier, in 2017.
World population is accelerating toward collapse, but few seem to notice or care
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2017
Sam Altman, cofounder of startup OpenIA (once owned by Elon Musk), is also a pronatalist enthusiast. He was an early investor in Genomic Prediction. He also poured money into the startup Conception, which is researching how to grow viable human eggs from stem cells and allow two biological males to reproduce.
“I think it’s great to have a lot of kids,” Altman said at the recent Greylock’s Smart Future event.
In its report, Business Insider revealed that tech billionaires have met in secret to talk about the world’s population in the future. The movement is “huge here in Austin,” Linda Avey, cofounder of genetic analysis company 23andMe, told Insider.
Raffi Grinberg, director of Startup Dialog, also confirmed that population decline is a common theme among CEOs who have attended the group’s unofficial retreats.
Another supporter is Luke Nosek, cofounder of PayPal. In February, he even held a meeting at his home with billionaires to discuss the “end of Western civilization,” the report revealed. Another enthusiast is Skype cofounder Este Jaan Tallinn, father of five, who has also invested in Conception.
Technology swaps the “bits” for biology
The trend could even affect investments in Silicon Valley, reducing interest in traditional “big techs” in favor of “biotechs.”
Data from consulting firm PitchBook shows that the biggest investment round of 2022 with BillionToOne took place in July, when the company raised $125 million in one go. The startup uses molecular diagnostics to screen for common and serious genetic disorders in unborn babies.
IVF forms are the new trend in Silicon Valley
Image: iStock
Another standout investment round comes from Gameto, which is looking for solutions to widen women’s fertility window, raising $40 million. One of the investors is XPrize cofounder Peter Diamandis and 23andMe cofounder Anne Wojcicki.
Overall, according to PitchBook, there are 138 companies in Silicon Valley that focus on human reproduction. That’s more than double the number in 2016, when there were 57.
“The 20th century was about atoms and bits. The 21st century is about biology and babies,” an anonymous Genomic Prediction investor told Insider.
*With information from Business Insider, Bloomberg and PitchBook.